James 'Jimmy' Nederlander, Broadway Producer and Land Mogul, Dies at 94

Celebrated Broadway production icon and Great White Way real estate mogul James M. Nederlander has died at the age of 94. Nederlander was chairman of the Nederlander Organization, a theater operations firm established by his father David T. Nederlander in 1912.

The Nederlander Organization is now second only to the famed Shubert Organizaton as the largest operator of Broadway theaters. The Nederlander Organization found its early foothold as a popularizer of "legitimate theatre" in the United States, a designation for serious stage performances resultant of the Licensing Act of 1737.

Mr. "Jimmy" Nederlander continued in his father's footsteps with the organization by becoming a well-respected theater owner. After regional success in Detroit, Nederlander began buying Broadway theaters. In the 1970s, Jimmy took it upon himself to install the Theater Hall of Fame inside the Nederlander-owned Gershwin Theater in New York.

In addition to the Gershwin, the Nederlander Organization owns or runs multiple other theaters at present including the Marquis Theatre, the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, the Minskoff, the Palace and Neil Simon theaters. They also run their eponymous Nederlander Theatre located on 41st Street.

Broadway.com gives a brief rundown of some past productions helmed by Nederlander:

"A prolific producer, he was behind more than one hundred Broadway productions including Annie, Applause, La Cage aux Folles, Me and My Girl, Nine, Noises Off, Peter Pan, Sweet Charity, The Will Rogers Follies and Woman of the Year. Performing companies he teamed up with to bring their work to Broadway include the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Cyrano and Sherlock Holmes."

Playbill lists the many Broadway-related awards which Mr. Nederlander received:

"Mr. Nederlander was the recipient of many distinguished honors including the United Nations Foundation Champion Award (2012), The Broadway League's Schoenfeld Vision for Arts Education Award (2011), the New York Pop's Man of the Year (2008), the Tony Awards' Special Tony Award for Life Time Achievement (2004), The Actors' Fund Medal of Honor (2002) [and the] United Jewish Appeal-New York Federations' Bernard B. Jacobs Excellence in the Theatre Award (1997)."

The Nederlander Organization is now headed by James "Jimmy" Nederlander's son and David T. Nederlander's grandson, Mr. James L. Nederlander.

Watch a YouTube video about the news here:

We want to hear from you. Let us know your favorite Broadway production from Mr. Nederlander in the comments section down below.

TagsJames M. Nederlander, The Nederlander Organization, The Shubert Organization, The Licensing Act of 1737, Theater Hall of Fame, Gershwin Theater, Lunt–Fontanne Theatre, Marquis Theatre, Brooks Atkinson Theatre